March 20, 2010

Chants of 'NO!' kept tea party crowd warm



It seemed like a good idea at the time -- when the event was planned during Friday's relatively balmy weather -- but Saturday's "instant Tea Party" in front of City Hall was notable mostly for its 20-degree wind chill.

A smaller than usual crowd -- there were about 125 people present, many bearing hand-made signs -- was bundled in winter coats, but did their best to keep warm by chanting their opposition to the health care bill scheduled for a vote in the House of Representatives Sunday.

Speakers came at the issue from various directions. Lou D'Abbraccio started the rally by reminding participants "we are the last great hope for the world. If our healthcare system is destroyed, where will they go?" And then, holding his bullhorn high, he led the crowd in a spirited chant of "We said no! We said no!"

Organizer Lora Halberstadt complimented those present for coming out in the cold weather, and urged them to "keep saying no."

Dave Westlake, a Republican running for the U.S. Senate, called the health care bill "a threat to our liberty and to our freedoms," and "the third wave of socialism." Brett Davis, who is running for lieutenant governor, asked, "Are you ready to elect conservatives?" The crowd shouted back, "Yes!" Van Wanggaard, who is running for the State Senate, asked: "Why are we here? To say no!" When he mentioned President Obama's name, the crowd erupted in boos.

Milwaukee Pastor David King compared the current debate to a football game. "Just because we get to say no to this health care bill doesn't mean the game is over. This year, November will be the half-time, when we'll get all the garbage out of office. The end of the game is 2012," he said.

Halberstadt wound up the rally 30 minutes after it began by saying, "the only people who are going to stop this thing are 'we the people.' "

The Racine Tea Party's next event is a transportation forum Tuesday at the South Hills Country Club. The topic then will be KRM.

Organizer Nancy Milholland and Pastor David King

Van Wanggaard voiced opposition to President Obama

99 comments:

  1. Great display of American democracy, thanks to everyone who attended. Let's all make those phone calls.

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  2. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ showed his digust for this event by making it cold and pointing out the whiteness of the crowd by making it snow. He has sent a message, a sign. He opposes Glenn Beck's anti-Christian views and his followers false idoltry.

    The Lird will speak on Sunday and deliver us another divine sign - passage of the bill.

    Praise be to God!

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  3. And their friends in Washington spat on a Representative, shouted "faggot" at Barney Frank and called civil rights hero, James Clyburn an "N" word.

    Stay classy, folks, stay classy.

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  4. In Washington today the Tea Party movement lost all credibility. I am amazed that the Republican party continues to court this group.

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  5. Get real. Anything that happened in DC today that was disrespectful in action were probably SEIU plants used to embarrass and discredit the HC protesters. They have NEVER acted as such prior to these mainstream media reports. 5 anti-war protesters were arrested today! What behavior caused that response? In all the news coverage on the TEA Party, you don't hear of arrests.

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  6. And their friends spat on... How can you tie people in Racine with people who went to Washington today? The people today were not throwing personal attacks at anyone. It was all protest of the policy out to put us into a single payer system before you can bat an eye

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  7. Racine and Washington were members of the same movement with the same ideology. Denial is a fun place to hang out though. I'm sure we will see some more Jerry Springer moments from the protesters during the vote tomorrow.

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  8. The ones to blame for poor action are the ones who did them.
    Perhaps we should blame Becker on the Democratic party of Racine County

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  9. The racist, bigoted scene in Washington was shocking in America today. Still, it'll probably serve to turn many people around when they acknowledge the ugliness of it all, much as the fire hoses and dogs did. Good, so be it. At least people's true colors are being flown.

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  10. There was no "racist, bigoted scene" that I have heard about in DC today - if there were incidents, they were few and isolated, despite the meme you are trying to promote.

    What we saw in Racine today was ~130 committed patriots who are concerned about the path their country is taking under our extremist president, and the mostly extremist democratic congress.

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  11. I'm guessing that any incidents in DC were just as likely to be the work of SEIU & ACORN thugs trying to discredit the tea party as they were to be the work of tea partiers.

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  12. Here's some tea party racism for you: White SEIU thugs beating a black tea party demonstrator.

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  13. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTXBOgPCh9w&feature=player_embedded

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  14. Washington (CNN) - Civil rights icon and veteran Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, said anti-health care bill protesters Saturday repeatedly yelled the "N" word at him as he left a heath care meeting and walked to the Capitol.
    "I haven't seen heard anything like this in more than 40 years, maybe 45." Lewis said. "Since the march from Selma to Montgomery really."

    http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/03/20/protesters-hurl-slurs-and-spit-at-democrats/?hpt=T1&fbid=Qx7bDUaJ-RE

    By Paul Kane
    Washington Post Staff Writer
    Saturday, March 20, 2010; 10:25 PM

    Members of the Congressional Black Caucus said that racial epithets were hurled at them Saturday by angry protesters who had gathered at the Capitol to protest health-care legislation, and one congressman said he was spit upon. The most high-profile openly gay congressman, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), was heckled with anti-gay chants.


    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/20/AR2010032002556.html

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  15. Yeah, we can always blame "outside agitators," you know, like the old days.

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  16. Those Democrats will do whatever they can to disparage the other side - including lie.

    Here's the video of the alleged event. There is no audio of any such name calling.

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  17. CBC pushing through Tea Party crowd:


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SCs6pSE8_I&feature=player_embedded

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  18. All real Americans want to depose that foreign-born, Muslim false president whose socialist minority minions and illegal immigrants fraudulently stole the government away from good Christians, who now simply want to redeem the country by eliminating this ungodly, unnatural, ruinous leadership and restoring our good ol’ natural leaders to power. Once everybody and everything’s back where they belong, it’ll be as it used to be, with everything in its rightful, God-given order.
    And when push comes to shove, let’s also shout down and spit on those uppity folks (insert N word and F word) who pretend to serve in Congress, but really don’t belong there either.

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  19. And, as it turns out, there's more video, from a different perspective, of the same alleged incident:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPoJGNhWB-s&feature=player_embedded

    Hang it up, lefties - We are sick and tired of you trying to use accuse every critic of Obama as being racist - We don't give a damn what color he is, or what color the Congressional Black Caucus is - It is their ideology we oppose.

    Incidentally, while you criticize folks in Washington for this made-up non-incident, you neglect to mention that one of the speakers at today's Racine Tea Party was African American.

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  20. One!

    Whew, for a minute I thought everybody was white.

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  21. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miRbdM7AUxs&feature=player_embedded#

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  22. Yeah - One out of 6...

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  23. I don't really go in for quotas.

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  24. Alleged or not, would someone in the leadership of the Tea Party (Racine LiberTea) please stand up and say "If this happened, of course it is wrong" If they cannot do at least that, then the Tea Party is already in decline.

    Stateman are needed.

    I understand the Tea Party is angry, many are. But if this is going to devolve into ad hominum attacks, they are part of the problem not part of the solution.

    Civility is needed. Stuff like this, if true, only fuels the fire.

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  25. When the other side CAN NOT defend their ideology with intelligent debate, they resort to discrediting the opposition with lies about their tactics.
    There is NOTHING good about health care being controlled by government. It has been tried in other countries and in states here in America and in every case failed.
    You socialist suck!
    I have a new idea for a socialist logo, a bullseye. Wear it in good health.

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  26. If you would have had your meeting at The DOVER Mall in downtown Kansasville you would have had a few thousand people. The red necks there love this Tea Party crap.

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  27. The racine teabaggers truck down this black gentleman from milwaukee for every event. That way they can deny that that the crowd is 100% old white people.

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  28. As a black man in the Tea Party movement, here is Lloyd Marcus' quote: "As a black proud Tea Party patriot, I am extremely offended by MSNBC TV show host Dylan Ratigan’s baseless accusation that the Tea Party Movement (my white brother and sister fellow patriots) embraces Nazis and racists." [Why would anyone make assumptions of race by judging people on their shade, when many people are mixed races these days and you cant always tell that by the degree of skin pigment. You promote racism by trying to separate people this way.]

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  29. Lloys Marcus: "I have traveled across America two times on Tea Party Express tours one and two. It truly angers me to see the wonderful, hard working, decent and color blind white patriots whom I have met at the tea parties trashed, called Nazis and racists simply because they oppose the out of control Obama administration." http://www.lloydmarcus.com/

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  30. I've not heard of Lloyd Marcus.

    Is he the national equivalent of this one black gentleman from Milwaukee that the local teabaggers trot out to show their "diversity" at every event.

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  31. It appears that the people in the Racine area have other things to think about. Maybe it's how they can pay a hospital bill without a job? or health insurance.

    These activists seem to be howling at the moon. They call it "soap box grandstanding".

    That was a rather pathetic turn out for something that their saying is so important.

    Racine has some of the finest health care in the country. It's just hard to pay for it without good insurance. That's what it's all about --- keeping people in our nation healthy. IS THAT WRONG?

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  32. We have healthcare/healthcare insurance and we have programs for those that do not have insurance. We can always create funding for those that need to buy some. We do not need to change the majority of the nation's healthcare for the few that dont have it or dont want it. We also do not need to crawl on the backs of the elderly and disabled by cutting their Medicare by $500 billion to fund a government run healthcare program.

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  33. How many isolated incidences of racism and threats of violence at teabag events do there have to be before we are able to define the movement by their actions?

    10? 100? The truth is there are incidences of racism at most of these events and the 'baggers say they are just a few bad apples.

    Teabaggers are perfectly aware that white supremacist and militia groups have become part of their crowd even if they don't personally know them.

    Until you openly denounce and purge your group of these "bad apples" you will continue to be defined by their racist behavior.

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  34. I watched that video of the alleged racist comments, and nobody said anything like that. I wonder if it's another of those pretend racist incidents that some people like to trot out to pretend they are victims.

    I also read somewhere that ONE person made a comment to Congressman Barney Frank, and they were immediately chastised by all the tea party people around them.

    In any event, none of those things happened here in Racine. I have been at all the tea parties, and have not seen anything like that.

    Yes, there clearly is room for improvement in health care - but we can fix it without a government takeover. This bill will destroy everything that is good about our health care, and still will not cover everyone.

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  35. "Racine has some of the finest health care in the country. It's just hard to pay for it without good insurance."

    Is that you, Ken Buser? LOLOLOL. Racine has some of the crappiest healthcare in the country, or haven't you been paying attention these past couple of monhths? And even with good insurance it's hard to pay for because no one at W-F knows what anything costs. Billing is as random as the "health care."

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  36. Why in this great country when a "White Man" does not agree with a "Black Man" he is a recist? Why is it when a"Black Man" does not agree with a "White Man" it is simple a difference of political or ethical views? It seems to me that if minorities want to wipe out racism they should not throw out the race card as fast as they do! To Anon 7:31, an obvious Christian I also have a question. Do you honestly think that Jesus Christ considers people with different views than you as being hench men or women for the Devil? If so you don't need a Pastor you need a Shrink. God is not Black, he is not White, he is not left or right, he is not Democrat or Republican, he God! To those that attended the Tea Party I thank you for standing up for what is and should be the only ruling entity of our country "The Constitution"! God bless you all and Thank you!

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  37. I feel bad for the people that have become involved with this movement that truly have good intentions and decent moral fiber. Unfortunately the Glenn and Rush crowd have moved the less educated in the movement to act out. Some of the ideas within the movement have merit but I would be distancing myself from this group quickly. It is really hard to defend stupidity.

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  38. Anon 9:38: The government isn't taking over health care - it's expanding the number of people who can get private health insurance. Nor is it paying for health care on the backs of the elderly - it's cutting a wasteful Medicare Advantage program that costs 30 percent more than regular Medicare yet doesn't produce any better results. They'll get the same Medicare I do, which is great. If we don't start cutting wasteful government programs, we'll never get the more than $1 trillion in deficit cuts called for in the health care bill. I'd imagine people who think they're taxed too much would appreciate that.

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  39. 10:23.
    I understand your perspective, but they only deserve as much pity as the people who stood with the segregationists for "economic reasons".

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  40. It is a courageous vote. The Republicans are experts at using fear to scare the electorate. Their methods are great at changing poll numbers, changing behavior, and insuring sheeplike compliance.

    The Repubs talk about portability and tort reform among ideas that are not included in this bill. Why not write a bill to supplement this one? One does not preclude the other. That bill is no where to be found. The two are not mutually exclusive. They can co-exist, if the party of NO wanted them to. For that matter, why don't dems write that bill too.

    It doesn't end today.

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  41. Also, if this is a fringe group, why is it that you can't get any Republican elected officials to say on camera: "My colleague Rep Clyburn is an American hero. Any person who would call him that term has no place in the American debate and should be ashamed of themselves."

    That would QUICKLY disprove the notion that the Republicans are just cynical, race-baiting, political opportunists.

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  42. I don't see anyone "defending stupidity" in fact, I see a claim of stupidity where, according to the video, none exists.

    The democrats hate the tea party movement because it stands in the way of their socialist ambitions - which is why they are making up things - including the little made up event where they charge through the middle of a demonstration and claim racist chanting, when there is none on any of the videos of the incident.

    Reminds me of all those faked racial incidents we've heard about. Tawana Brawley, Rep. John Lewis, and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver: all liars.

    There are no racist comments in the videos that someone posted above. Cleaver claimed someone was arrested for spitting on him and he declined to press charges - but it turns out that never happened either, according to the Capitol Police. There were black tea party members in the crowd, and you can see them in the video - do you suppose they would condone that kind of behavior?

    Nope, this is a shallow, premeditated attempt by the left to impugn the tea party movement.

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  43. I played the Video of the CBC as they proceeded thru the crow and the only "N" word I heard was "NO!". Maybe I missed it, or there is some other clip which has a demonstrator using the "N" word. But While I don't agree with this being a racial issue nor a Gay vs. Straight issue. I would condemn those that use those terms, it's not the argument and it's just a distraction. Furthermore the idea that Union Plants are being used to infiltrate the crowds wouldn't surprise me in the least. But If any one thinks we are a monolith of people who all think exactly the same thing about every issue, your just flat wrong. Neither Glenn, Rush and Sean are encouraging any sort of Racism or violence...we a protesting and demonstrating and blogging and talking to our friends, neighbors and countrymen to try to change the end of America as we know it!
    I think most people are intelligent enough to recognize that any group as large as the TEA Party or Green Peace, NAACP etc. can have it's eccentrics and even racist's, within it's ranks. The TEA Party doesn't take attendance and anyone can join..it's free, Non-Partisan, voluntary and energized!
    I know we had less than 24 hours to send out an announcement to our host of followers..We were glad that 120 or so folks came out for a 30 minute Rally. Will it make a difference today? We don't know. But sitting on the couch griping wasn't gonna help either.

    Once again Thanks to all that came!!

    If you can come listen a National Expert Randall O'Toole speak about KRM and the Not So high Speed train that almost but not quite goes to Madison. and see how much these systems have cost vs. the proposal..who many people actually ride them vs. projections, and why we should look very carefully before we take the so-called "Free" Federal money.

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  44. 1. A Job-Killing Government Takeover of Health Care. No amount of changes or legislative tricks can hide the true destructive nature of this bill: $17 billion in new taxes on Americans who do not comply with the individual mandate, $52 billion in new taxes on employers that do not provide health coverage deemed “acceptable” or “affordable” by government bureaucrats, and new taxes on capital gains, dividends and interest that will further stifle economic growth and job creation.

    2. New Tax on Capital Formation and Job Creation. The Medicare tax on capital gains, dividends, and other investment income gets bigger, magnifying the destructive power of this new tax. The bill increases the tax from 2.9 percent to 3.8 percent, pushing the top capital gains rate to 23.8 percent and the top rate for dividends to 43.4 percent in conjunction with tax relief expiring at the end of this year. As The Wall Street Journal editorialized this week, this tax will “permanently skew the incentives to work, save and create jobs.”

    3. Democrats Continue to Say ‘I Do’ To Marriage Penalty. The bill leaves in place a massive marriage penalty, which will mean higher premiums for those that tie the knot. As highlighted in January by The Wall Street Journal, “the disparity comes about in part because subsidies for purchasing health insurance … are pegged to federal poverty guidelines.” The final bill leaves this unfair penalty on married couples in place.

    4. Lower Wages and More Unemployment. The final bill imposes $52 billion in new taxes on employers, including small businesses, that cannot afford to provide health coverage or that don’t offer coverage. The effect of this type of tax, similar to a payroll tax increase, would ultimately fall squarely on workers in the form of lower wages or reduced employment. In fact, the Tax Policy Center concluded that “economists generally believe that the burden of payroll taxes is borne by workers in the form of lower wages, regardless of whether the tax is levied on the employer or the employee.” The tax proposed in this bill will likely have the same effect.

    5. Employers Targeted By Even Higher Taxes to Enforce Employer Mandate. The final bill incorporated President Obama’s suggestion to rake in a little more cash to pay for a massive government-takeover of health care by nearly tripling the job-killing mandate tax on employers who do not offer health coverage to $2,000 per employee. Sure enough, the President’s suggestion raises an additional $25 billion on the backs of American employers, according to CBO.

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  45. 6. Individual Mandate Tax Reduced? No, Not Really. Democrats are highlighting their generosity by lowering the amount of the tax for not complying with the mandate. But just how generous are they? Not very. Democrats propose to reduce the individual mandate tax flat payment amount by a scant 14¢ a day. And, while Democrats “reduce” the individual mandate tax flat payment amount, they actually raise $2 billion more by making other alterations to the individual mandate, according to CBO.

    7. The Power to Tax Our Health Care. The Democrats’ final bill doesn’t just tax individuals and employers if they don’t comply with the complex mandates in the bill. The bill sends the IRS out to tax the very products Americans use to maintain and restore their own health. New taxes on medical devices, on prescription drugs, and on health insurance itself are all targets of the bill. And, with $10 billion in new enforcement resources, you can bet the IRS will be taking its full share out of the pockets of every American who uses any of these products or services.

    8. Even More Subsidies, Even Greater Threat to the Economy. The bill increases the subsidies provided under the bill from those provided in the Senate bill by $65 billion, a significant and unsustainable increase. In fact, the Associated Press reported a warning from Massachusetts’ state treasurer, who stated that Congress will "threaten to wipe out the American economy within four years" if it adopts a health care overhaul modeled after the Bay State's.

    9. Taxpayer-Funded Abortion Coverage. The final bill does not include the Stupak amendment language that would prohibit federal funds from being used to fund elective abortions. Instead, states are given the option to opt-out of providing insurance coverage of abortions. Still, taxpayers in a state that opts-out would still see their federal tax dollars fund elective abortions in other states. Additionally, each state through the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) can provide access to two multi-state plans, and only one of them will exclude abortions. OPM’s current health care program – the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) – does not include any plans that cover elective abortion. For the first time, a federally funded and managed health care plan will cover elective abortions.

    10. Medicaid Rolls And Waiting Lines to Swell Even More. CBO estimates that as a result of the Democrats’ bill, one million more Americans will get their coverage from Medcaid, which is plagued with financial woes and wreaks all kinds of budgetary havoc on cash-strapped states. The Democrats’ bill, as the New York Times highlighted, will push even more Americans into a program where they will have trouble finding doctors and have to wait for potentially months to receive care. That’s not meaningful reform by any measure.

    BONUS: Republicans have proposed a health care bill based on common-sense reforms that, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, would reduce premiums for families and small businesses by up to 10 percent. It is not too late to start over.

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  46. 11:44, this is exactly why no one believes you when you say "we don't tolerate racists." While you're so happy to condemn the people you disagree with, you could have easilly simultaneously condemned the idea that anyone would use such a term when speaking to an American hero like Rep Clyburn. Whether you choose to believe it happened in this incident or not, it HAS happened, it's not nearly as rare in this country as you would like to believe, and you would only enhance credibility with REAL Americans if you would denounce it and denounce any person who would do it. But you did not.

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  47. Hey. 11:46. I remember that Republican health plan. It's the same one that lost the 2008 election by 10 million votes.

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  48. Anon 11:49 I am a known member of the Racine TEA Party group. I "Condemned" as you requested, Now get back to the issue, and enough with the stupid Red Herrings. I am under no obligation to apoligize or condemn on som unknown unattributed and so far unproven racial slur than I have a responsibility to "apologize or Condemn an moronic thing your or first Cousin might say. In America we still have a freedom of speech an dRep. Clyborn can make up whatever he heard or thought he heard...Even if he heard it it's not against the law to use the "N" or "fag" or any other word. It might be unseemly but it's not against the Law. I still hear lots of assorted Blacks using the "N" word..and Gays using the term Fag as well as other self-derogatory words. So quit play Keith Olberman and using selective outrages to distract from the real topic of discussion. I will unlikely respond further to your critism, etc unless you at least use a recognizable identifier so I can distinguish from the 6.6 Billion other people of the planet who could be "ANON". You don't have to use your name but something that singles you out individually would be appreciated. Otherwise you might as well be the Crack pot who blogs incessantly about the Johnson Family. and maybe you are him/ Her.

    Bottom line regardless of alleged slurs; this "Health Plan" is an abomination and an unconstitutional over reach on the American people. It will never go into effect. The Courts will throw it out, the States will ignore it. The Dems will lose on or both houses and the State's will flip parties like 1994 on steroids.

    Pelosi, Reid and Obama's legacy will be the party that couldn't shoot straight and lost everything at the worst time in Progressive history.

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  49. http://www.thecypresstimes.com/article/News/Opinion_Editorial/WHEN_ALL_ELSE_FAILS_DEMOCRATS_THE_MEDIA_RACEBAIT_UPDATED/28647

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  50. Somehow this is Dickert's fault

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  51. Downtown Brown. I don't know who you are. The fact that you are personally outspoken against these racists is comforting. However I was referring to people with an actual public persona -- perhaps Leader Boehner, or our own Paul Ryan? Why the silence from them?

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  52. Interesting that only black congressmen who have already sold their souls hear the "N" word. On site news people didn't hear it, nor did the police.
    Yet without any independant verification it is reported as news.

    What hypocracy!.

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  53. 1:56, you can hear it clearly on the youtube vid posted by a conservative on this very thread.

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  54. A high percentage of Americans enjoy good health care. Why? Because men and women in our local unions stood out on picket lines.

    You think all these wonderful perks the middle class has enjoy came free. Are you that stupid to think employer's had a big hearts.

    Our President Obama will win again and 90% of the democrats will be re-elected and these protesters will find some other thing to march and shout about.

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  55. More people I talk with support health care reform than are against it. About 80% for and 20% against it. We all should be supportive.

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  56. Yeah. A minimum of 80% of House Democrats will retain their seats. This is why I always laugh when people say "We're going to throw out the whole congress!" No. You're just going to continue to punish a few recently-elected moderates in purple districts.

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  57. Oh yeah every person who has alleged to have made a racists or homo-phobic demands that John Boehner and Paul Ryan are forced to respond, give me a break. Neither Boehner nor Ryan is a "TEA Party" member regardless if they support us or we support them. I support Bart Stupak's position, (Assuming he hasn't switched it yet today), Should Stupak also make a public statement.. Of course not unless he said it. Get over yourself and address the issue and throw the Red herring back into the ocean.

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  58. Stupak is voting in favor. And he's bringing friends. He's always been in favor of the plan, he just wanted reassurance on his abortion concerns.

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  59. Anon 2:12 You need a more diverse group of friends, chatting with NAACP and the teachers Union is not a good sampling of the population. While many agree changes could occur in Health access, when presented with the vaugaries of this "phoney" and un-constitutional plan 57% oppose it's passge. As for the 80% of the Dem's that may retain their seats. Keep in mind the number of them that are retiring..resigning to run for Governor, and or US Senate.

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  60. Brown, those retiring or running for another office are included in the 20%. Sorry to burst your bubble.

    The only people who are punished in these "waves" are recently-elected congressmen and moderates who reside in purple districts.

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  61. Actually, I am more likely to vote Dem if this passes because, while not pretty, they made a courageous vote. Far worse is the fear mongering NO sayers and the even less mainstream Tea Partyers.

    I am not thrilled with how poorly the Dems sold this, but beleive its the right thing to do.

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  62. Amen. If this bill fails things will get far worse.

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  63. Credit where credit is due:

    Washington (CNN) - House Republican leaders criticized the use of slurs against Democratic congressmen by protesters on Capitol Hill Saturday, but they called them isolated incidents that shouldn't overshadow the debate over health care. …

    … Andrew Langer, the president of one of the groups that sponsored Saturday's protest, issued a statement Sunday condemning the incidents. "The Institute for Liberty roundly condemns the isolated incidents of intolerance that occurred … As a core value, the Tea Party movement believes in the precept upon which our independence was declared and this nation was founded: that all men are created equal."

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  64. "More people I talk with support health care reform than are against it. About 80% for and 20% against it. We all should be supportive."

    “A government with the policy to rob Peter to pay Paul
    can be assured of the support of Paul.” G.B. Shaw

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  65. For all of you delusional people that think Dems will remain in power come Nov, did you forget about Scott Brown? That is the example of what's to come. TEA Party is growing daily. And referring to 10million votes for Obama that have left him in droves. Read the polls, all of them. They all tell you otherwise. ALL the polls have a majority of Americans against this bill that will bankrupt our nation and those are the percentages that GOP will win by in Nov!

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  66. Good luck.

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  67. The dems have sealed their fate by not listening to the public for the past year. Even the democrat polsters are saying this is political suicide. I have never seen such a group of self destructive elected officials in my life. The sad part is that the damage done is likely not to be reversed for quite some time.

    This is a sad day in the history of our country. Obama and company can no longer blame Bush. They own the coming disaster.

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  68. Watching Reps. Jesse Jackson, John Lewis, John Clyburn and others today on the floor of the House, I realized what a gift those people who shouted the N-word yesterday gave to the country: A united Democratic Party standing up firmly for its traditional ideals.

    Some men see things as they are and say, why? Some dream things that never were and say, why not?

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  69. "I am not bound to win, but I'm bound to be true." - President Obama, quoting President Lincoln.

    Sometimes, it's both.

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  70. I've read most of the preceding blogs and would just like to remind folks that the Obama's executive order stating that the healthcare reform bill will not cover abortions is not worth the paper it is written on. Obama signed it to placate certain Democrats with pro-life leanings. It will not change the Senate version of the bill and, YES, there will be even more innocent blood shed on the altar of fornication. I am a member of the Racine Tea Party and proud of it! You can badmouth us all you want, but that won't affect our resolve to fight for the preservation and prosperity of America. To 3/20/2010 7:31 PM--I was at the healthcare protest yesterday and a little cold didn't stop us from voicing our concerns. We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28 NIV). You might consider reading the book of Revelation to find out where the world is heading. Then hang a "Vacancy" sign on your heart and invite Jesus to enter your heart and life.

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  71. "YES, there will be even more innocent blood shed on the altar of fornication."

    Certainly don't want that guy in charge of my life.

    I thought Tea Party folks were, like, libertarians, whom I've often respected.

    If this is the agenda, count me out.

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  72. Congratulations. It's a health-care reform bill.

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  73. Republicans last-ditch forlorn hope was nothing short of disgraceful. Shouting out "baby killer" at Stupak??!!!
    They've got to be kidding. Or crazy. Probably crazy.

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  74. Nothing brings out such mindlessness other than racism. Gotta be. They just can't stand to hand a victory to a black, "pretender" president, that's all. Otherwise, they'd behave differently, respectfully, rather than shouting "baby killer," and "you lie," or "N-" and "Fa--t" at duly elected representatives of our country. It's shameful. I'm embarrassed for our democracy.

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  75. Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can! Yes We Can!

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  76. Anon 10:19:

    I'm proud of our democracy, overcoming such prejudice and hatred to do the right thing.

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  77. It's astonishing that Republicans refused to be at the table meaningfully through all this, fearful to appear to a certain percentage of the constituency that they'd be willing to deal with a black president on the basis of equality and goodwill.

    So, they cut themselves out of this historic accomplishment.

    Their loss.

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  78. This is a triumph for the President and a great day for America.

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  79. Social security, medicaid and medicare are all financial disasters. This healthcare insurance reform (obamacare) will be exactly like those government programs, financially disastrous.
    How can all these democrats put all the American people in harms way?

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  80. If insurance company greed was not the driving force, if they had treated their customers with respect this would not have been necessary.

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  81. Luz,

    Social Security and Medicare both pay for themselves. Why is it Republicans consistently attack programs that are both immensely popular and fiscally sound?

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  82. 10:30 Yes you Can - bankrupt the country and you will with this bill.

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  83. Hey Anon 10:50 SS and Medicare never have had enough to pay for themselves and will both be broke very soon. and will have to amended dramatically, (Read huge increases in taxes), in order to return to solvency.

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  84. Downtown Brown,

    Social Security has paid for itself in all but 3 of the past 70 years and currently does so. Medicare has always done so since its inception nearly 50 years ago.

    I can't understand why people keep insisting upon making things up, like Social Security and Medicare are somehow "bankrupt." That's ludicrous.

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  85. To call these loonies "Patriots" is a slap in the face to true Patriots. These people are crazy, deranged, angry bigots.

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  86. Obama must be doing something right we just had our taxes done today and we'll be paying about 1/5 of what we've been paying in for the past 20 yrs. The tax credits we were allowed couldn't have come at a better time.
    Money,Greed and Power will always run this country but, today we were finally given a small break!

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  87. oObama must be doing something right we just had our taxes done today and we'll be paying about 1/5 of what we've been paying in for the past 20 yrs. The tax credits we were allowed couldn't have come at a better time.
    Money,Greed and Power will always run this country but, today we were finally given a small break!

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  88. Kinda nice to have a president who doesn't reserve all the tax breaks for his wealthy friends.

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  89. Comments from left wing haters are always welcome huh Dustin...

    Disgusting.

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  90. So you drive a rusty chevy pickup, you think Paul Ryan is your savior, you cannot wait for Rush Limbaugh in the morning and Sean Hannity in the evening, is this an accurate description of a tea party member. No mind of their own without a pot to, oh well, this too will pass.

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  91. Right wing --Left wing --Bah humbug

    The great American eagle has been struggling in flight -- because we have one party(GOP) that refuses to work with the other. The arrogance these red tied leaders express is unreal.

    I also was shocked by the major tax break I received this year.
    Looks like my kids will have a new pair of shoes.

    Paul Ryan my next political contribution will be to the person to runs against you. It's clear you do not have my best interests on your agenda.

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  92. My parents always said that doing the right thing isn't always popular.

    Most of us tend to do it the easy way

    I'm proud to see we have leaders who stand up for ideals that made our country one of the best places in the world to live.

    These fine leaders showed the world the values of America.

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  93. The one party that refuses to work with the other is the democrats, who shut the Republicans out of the process.

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  94. 5:23
    That's been disproven at every stage. This bill is more conservative than Hillarycare. This bill is more conservative than the one Nixon proposed. It became conservative because they adopted Republican amendments. It's a compromise bill, which is not 100% liberal or 100% conservative. This is exactly the way that consensus legislation has always been passed. The only difference is that the Republicans held out 100% of their votes.

    The Republican position (and COMPLETELY unjustified, since they had just gotten annihilated in the 2008 elections) was to say all or nothing.

    The Republicans would see this country burn to see the Democrats defeated.

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  95. Better strategy for Republicans: Declare victory in health-care reform in that the public option was defeated. That way, they could say they protected society from "socialism," but at the same time take a little credit for all the GOP amendments that actually were in the bill.

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  96. Typical Democrats, keep the poor poorer. Can't afford health insurance, then you must buy it or get fined and face possible jail time.

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  97. Can't wait for the Tea Party to defend itself in 6 months after people find out the government didn't take over their healthcare. Big mistake with all of the lies people. Your chickens......will come home.....to roost.

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  98. Of course they won't have taken over health care in six months.

    It will be four years before they get around to fixing what was supposedly the most important problem we faced as a country - never mind job loss or two wars.

    Of course, we'll be PAYING FOR it for those four years. That was one of their accounting tricks: Ten years of tax revenue to pay for a program that only operates for six of those ten years.

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  99. The Dems are prancing around
    They think they're wearing King George's crown
    But we will see them all fall down
    Come November

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